Seeing Artworks
June 29, 2002 – January 31, 2003
Bill Bell: Between the Lines
With a little concentration, a turn of the head, and blink of the
eye, one begins to notice an unidentifiable form crossing overhead.
Then as the eye and brain adjust, whole images from birds to words,
fly across the towering open space of the Exploratorium. Artist Bill
Bell’s Between the Lines is composed of a dozen, widely
spaced, 8-foot high, narrow bars of blinking, light-emitting diodes.
To the casual viewer, the artwork at first appears to be nothing more
than flashing sticks of color. But as the title of the artwork suggests,
the flying birds and words are there, waiting to be perceived. How
do bars of blinking light become boats, tropical fish, monarch butterflies,
birds, words, and eyes —in red, blue and yellow —moving,
larger-than-life across the museum? Between the Lines achieves
its mind-bending effect by capitalizing on the peculiarities of our
visual perception.
"Persistence of vision," the same optical effect that allows
us to see moving images in movies, is coupled with another effect
— saccadic, or rapid eye movement — to reveal the seemingly
hidden images. In a matter of seconds or minutes, the eye-brain connection
learns to track the images across the light-stick array, and begins
to see coherent, recognizable images. Having learned to see the images,
the pathways in each and every visitor’s brain will have been
permanently changed! Supported by the National Science Foundation,
National Endowment of the Arts, and an AT&T New Experiments in
Arts and Technology Grant.
Paul Kaiser: Inkblot Perceptions
Select one of the Rorschach-like inkblots on the screen in this work.
What do you see? Dancing elephants? An old man? Compare your interpretation
by selecting a name from a list of people whose ages and cultural
backgrounds vary. Then listen to that person as he or she describes
their personal perceptions. Watch for the highlighted areas on the
inkblot, which guide you as the speaker points out the different parts
of his imagined subject. Based on award winning work by New York media
artist and Exploratorium Osher Fellow, Paul Kaiser, Inkblot Perceptions
makes possible seeing diverse perceptual paths through a single visual
stimulus
.
Gerald Marks: Professor Pulfrich’s Universe
Imagine a room full of motorized sculptures that constantly rotate
in one direction, yet cast 3-D shadows, which interact, appear to
reverse direction, and collide! Professor Pulfrich’s Universe
uses the Pulfrich effect (the appearance of objects rotating when
viewed with one eye filtered) and stereo vision. Supported by the
National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Bob Miller: Sun Painting
The Sun Painting is an artwork that paints with light and broad
brushstrokes of color from the sun. A long time favorite, it has been
absent for many years. Once again, it all begins on the roof of the
Exploratorium where a mirror mounted on a motor tracks a sunbeam and
brings it into the building where it is bounced between a series of
mirrors and prisms that fan the sunlight into exquisite colors that
are captured in an ever changing painting on a large screen. Funded
by the National Science Foundation, and The National Endowment of
the Arts.
